The Brookhaven leader., 1887-05-26
The Penltentiary Ring.

name some of the men constituting
the ring which is trying tn defraud
the State out of $4,000. In the
face Of the public record, no editor
who isn't either q plant tool of the
ring or an objectionable ignoramus,
would ask such question. We
will state n few historical facts and
let the Republican and the public
Judge for themselves who the men
and their abettors are who are en-.
gagged in defrauding the State.
During the beat of the Guber
material contcst of 1885, when Low
rvs chances for denomination were
wavering in the balance, II. c. Fair.
man, of the jackson Lantern, pub
lished an article charging that the
Lcssccs of the Penitentiary were
behind in their accounts with the
State many thousands of dollars,
and that Lowry was responsible for
the delinquency. The showing
made by Fairman was as the explo
sion of a mighty bomb and for a
time the Lowry hosts staggered un
der it. However, in 4 personal card
bearing date Of July 2lst, 1885,
Jones 5. Hamilton and James A.
Hoskins came to the Governors
rescue. They denounced Fairman
as "a wanton, malicious and miser
able liar and scoundrel' and under
took to prove that they had settled
all their Indebtedness to the State
up to December, 1884 Embodied
in this card Of Hamilton and Hos
kins were certificates from Ex-At,
torney. General Catchings, Super
intendent of the Prnitentiary I. j.
McQniston, and Gen. Witt Adams.
certifying to the same fact, and be
fore the denunciation and such
an array of political influence Fair
man was driven to the wall.
All this time the Governor,
much interested party, was
mum, but time rolled on and when
His Exccllency had been re-nomi
mated and reelected and was safe in
the gubernatorial chair for n second
term, in his official message to the
Legislature of 1856 (see message of
that date), he substantially gave the
lie to the card of Hamilton and
Hoskins of the preceding July,
together with the false certificates
of Gatherings, Adams and McQuis-
ton, and tells the Legislature that
the Lcssees did not settle their in,
debtedness for 1884, in December of
that year, as claimed in their card,
but made said settlement December
Dist. 1885, five months after their
false statement had been published
and he had reaped the benefit. He
also showed in this biennial message
of January, 1886, that no settle
ment'had been made for the $50, 42O
due for 1885, and no settle
ment for that year or the year 1886
has been made since, making the
amount now due the State by the
Lcssees $7S,S40. Not only have
they failed to pay this blood money,
but they are now trying to defraud
the State out of it altogether on
technicalities, and the suit so long
ago instituted by the Attorney
General on their bond is dragging
along in the Court.
But this is not all of the Peni-
Tertiary rottenncss. The Peniten-
liary standing committee of the
Senate in 1886, Of which Senator
Boone was chairman, showed that
so far from the Lessees having
settled everything up to December,
1884, as claimed in their card de-
nouncing Fairman, the settlement
that was made for that year in
December, 1885, embraced unfinished
contracts for thousands of dollars.
In other words, that the Lessees
settled in December 1885, for what
they were due on their lease for
1884, and in that settlement got
credits for work that hadn't been
when the Legislature was
in session in 1886, and some of the
work was then not even begun.
And this is not all. The same
and another special
of the Senate, showed
that the contracts on which the
Lessees had obtained credits in their
settlement with the State, and
which contracts had been approved
By the Governor! embraced over